Often in the headlines for other reasons, carbon dioxide is in fact utilised throughout a range of applications. Sam A. Rushing explores these and the challenges ahead.
BACKGROUND
The average person on the street would often see CO2 today as an agent for beverage carbonation, a gaseous agent in the atmosphere which is a normal part of many biological processes and also now viewed strongly as a major greenhouse gas.
In reality, this is just starting to scratch the surface of what this product represents, whether this be something viewed some years ago; today and tomorrow. CO2 is a versatile gas and chemical agent used in many phases of manufacturing, well beyond beverage carbonation. This includes carbonic acid formation for PH reduction, cryogenic freezing, cooling; and packaged food atmosphere modification. Also, there would be uses for pest control, environmentally friendly cleaning alternatives, solvent applications in many forms of industry, agricultural applications, and the enhanced production of oil and gas; all of which to name a few of the growing list of uses for this versatile product.
The successful and long term application in industry is driven by strategic availability, as driven by raw feedstock availability; as well as time-tested and well liked applications rather than alternate forms of achieving a similar end. Such alternate means can often be environmentally unfriendly, hazardous, or more expensive than CO2 applications in industry.
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